Glenn Cox of Charlottetown is a $10,000 winner of this year's Ernest C. Manning Innovation Award for inventing and commercializing The RuptureSeal™. Mr. Cox will receive his prize at the Foundation's 33rd Innovation Awards Gala in Ottawa on Wednesday October 22nd.

In 1994, while working as an RCMP officer on Vancouver Island, Cox responded to an overturned, leaking tanker truck on a highway and watched as a spill specialist fastened together a crude seal using a putty-like substance held in place by a small piece of plywood and a shovel. Though the seal ultimately reduced a two inch rupture to a mere trickle, several hundred gallons of fuel had already spilled out causing an irreversible, costly impact on the environment and significant risk to first responders.

Inspired by this event and by his passion for the environment and safety, Cox started experimenting with different materials and design. He hoped to create a functional product that could stop the leak entirely. Cox along with his development team worked hard to find a perfect shape and size, adaptable enough to fit an array of rupture sizes. Many years and prototypes later, Cox received a patent for The RuptureSeal™ and immediately dove into the manufacturing and commercialization process of the product.

"Without the ability to commercialize an innovation," says Cox, "it remains just an idea."

The RuptureSeal™ is now the leading spill response tool in the field, outperforming other products such as putty or rubber and wooden bungs. Using silicone enables the tool to adapt to any surface texture by mechanically fastening to a rupture of any size. A number of features are built into The Rupture Seal™ to minimize the risk of product failure. The device is designed in three sizes and works quickly. Its adaptability is leading to several new applications including Marine use, as the product is able to seal from either the inside or the outside of the hull of a vessel. The RuptureSeal™ has revolutionized the spill response industry by addressing the spill at the source as opposed to post-spill remediation, with huge environmental implications.

Cox's corporation, Zengo Innovations Inc., focuses on developing safety and environmental protection products. The RuptureSeal™ is used by fire departments, hazmat teams, the transportation industry, and the Canadian Coastguard and Navy. Since 2012, Cox has sold close to 11,000 units and introduced the product in 33 countries.

"The Ernest C. Manning Awards Foundation is helping to build a culture of Canadian innovation by recognizing and rewarding Canadian innovators," says Foundation President Jennifer Diakiw. "Our Awards celebrate innovators who are improving the lives of Canadians and others around the world through their commercialized innovations. They add value to our provincial and national economies by creating jobs and wealth and positioning our country as a global competitor. Our distinguished alumni are leaders in technology, business, engineering, and social innovation advancement, and we consider them Canada's most valuable resource."